Monday, April 27, 2015

ATO AUSkey drops support for Google Chrome.

I thought it was interesting to read the ATO has dropped support for Google Chrome users using AUSkey and decided to checkout why from a technical point of view.

It appears the ATO, for users of AUSkey, are no longer supporting Google Chrome as from version 42. Now of course this will create a storm from Chrome users, but on the other hand, this change is a result of changes Google Chrome is putting into place when it stops supporting the technology NPAPI.

Firstly let's say this is a storm in a teacup. Most people I know now run two browsers. Browsers now simply fail on some sites and it's getting worse. To get around this you need to have two browsers installed. When one doesn't work, then use the other. Problem solved.

The government sites I've found to be rather lacking and you really do need to try sites using different browsers. For the government to continue to use Java, when Java is one of the most prevalent attack vectors for malware lacks foresight. I removed Java from my main computer years ago and recommend to others to do the same. Only if an application requires Java is Java needed to be installed. If you do need Java you can have it installed in your secondary browser to minimise the risk of malware infection.

As a tip. I don't recommend Opera as a browser, but if you need to quickly install a second browser, it's quick and easy to install. Best of all there's only 1% of people who use Opera making it less likely for malware writers to write software specifically targeted at Opera users. Of course you can select your own browser of choice for the second browser.